BBC Focus - 04.2020_

FE ATURE CARBON-FREE DIET

2 to appreciate the value of food. Some estimates suggest that

the food we buy but then throw away adds up to 214 calories

per person each day. But an analysis published earlier this year

concluded that the problem is worse than that. Dr Monika van

den Bos Verma and her colleagues at Wageningen University

& Research in the Netherlands found that each of us, on

average, actually wastes 527 calories each day. Alarming as this

conclusion is, she points out that it also represents a golden

opportunity. “Yes, it’s a bigger problem than we thought,” she

says. “But that means if we can solve it, it’s a bigger solution

as well. That’s a big ‘if’, but I think we can do it.”

Right now, there isn’t much stigma associated with throwing

away bread that has gone stale, or bananas that have overripened.

But what we deem socially acceptable can change relatively

rapidly, as we’ve seen in recent decades with public perceptions

“PEOPLE ASSUME FOOD

HABITS ARE STUCK FOR

LIFE, THAT PEOPLE DON’T

CHANGE – BUT IT’S

ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE”

9kg

driving

40km

heating

a home

for

1.5days

or

Potatoes

(2)

In each case we’ve
calculated the
consumption over an
entire year, and have
assumed 3-5 servings
a week.

CREDIT: The data in
this infographic was
calculated using the
BBC’s climate change
food calculator, which
is based on data from
researchers at the
University of Oxford
and the Agroecology
and Environment
Research Division in
Zurich, Switzerland.

12kg

driving

51km

heating

a home

for

2 days

or

Bread

(1 slice)

25kg

driving

103km

heating

a home

for

3 days

or

Pasta

(75g)

69kg

driving

285km

heating

a home

for

11 days

or

Rice

(3tbsp)

6kg

driving

27km

heating

a home

for

1 day

or

Citrus fruit

(1)

7kg

driving

29km

heating

a home

for

1.1 days

or

Apples

(1)

14kg

driving

59km

heating

a home

for

2 days

or

Bananas

(1)

41kg

driving

169km

heating

a home

for

6 days

or

Avocados

(1 half)

20kg

driving

86km

heating

a home

for

3 days

or

Beans

(150g)

Greenhouse gas

emissions:

Equivalent of:

Carbs Fruit